SACRAMENTO -- In the latest of personal skirmishes leading up to the last gubernatorial debate Tuesday, Jerry Brown's wife, Anne Gust Brown, is now at the center of speculation over who advised Brown to call Meg Whitman a "whore" in a private conversation recorded by a voice message machine last month.

A Fox News blog, quoting an unnamed source with reportedly close ties to Jerry Brown's campaign, said Brown's wife was the culprit, though the Brown campaign continued to insist it didn't know who it was. A woman can be heard on the audio tape saying "what about saying she's a whore?" in a private conversation among Brown's campaign aides about how to respond to an endorsement a small police union was giving to Whitman.

A spokeswoman for the Whitman campaign suggested the issue won't die down until Brown reveals who made the comment.

"Meg has been out there campaigning for her plan to create jobs and Jerry Brown has been hiding out for a week, refusing to take accountability for this slur that came out of his campaign," said Sarah Pompei, a Whitman spokeswoman. "The person who should be talking about who's on the tape is Jerry Brown, not our campaign."

Brown, a spokesman said, is ready to move on to the issues of the campaign.

"I'm not going to defend using that word, but that said, I'm also not going to go on a witch hunt and offer up a sacrificial lamb," said Sterling Clifford. "We've apologized for it. That's all we can do."

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The third and final debate between Brown and Whitman, which will be held tonight at Dominican University and moderated by broadcast veteran Tom Brokaw, comes three weeks before Election Day. Brown has been making some inroads against Whitman in the polls, taking a lead by as many as seven percentage points in one poll.

The "whore" comment, however, has shifted the conversation in the campaign, slowed Brown's momentum, and fueled frenzied reaction on national news networks and in the blogosphere. It is not clear, however, how much impact the contretemps will have on the race, where women are divided equally between Whitman and Brown.

Brown has the endorsements of NARAL Pro-Choice California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Equality California and the California chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Whitman has been endorsed by the California Women's Leadership Association Political Action Committee and the Republican Majority for Choice PAC. Emily's List, which raises money for Democratic female candidates who support abortion rights, has not issued an endorsement in the governor's race.

Brown, attempting to put the controversy behind him, has avoided direct comment, and he has kept a low profile since the comment was first reported late last week. Over the weekend, he did not show up at a get-out-the-vote "Day of Action" event, and held no public events on Monday. Meanwhile, Whitman declined to comment on the incident over the weekend, though she called the comment a "slur."

The story came at an opportune moment for Whitman, who was staggering from the controversy over her former maid, whom she fired in June 2009 after reportedly learning for the first time that she was an undocumented worker.

Whitman was facing heat from Latinos over her treatment of Nicky Diaz Santillan, who said that Whitman fired her and told her "you don't know me and I don't know you," after telling her she could not help her resolve her immigration status.

But that issue has dropped off the radar, replaced by t e storm that followed the release of the recorded message Brown left with an official with the Los Angeles Police Protective League in early September. Believing he had hung up the phone, Brown and his aides resumed a conversation that was picked up by the still-running voice mail machine. Brown expressed frustration that the union would endorse Whitman for the promise that her pension reform would not apply to law enforcement officers and firefighters.

"Do we want to put an ad out? "... That I have been warned if I crack down on pensions, I will be -- that they'll go to Whitman, and that's where they'll go because they know Whitman will give 'em, will cut them a deal, but I won't," Brown said.

At that point a woman's voice can be heard saying: "What about saying she's a whore?"

More conversation ensued before Brown said, "Well, I'm going to use that. It proves you've cut a secret deal to protect the pensions."

Perhaps not coincidentally, Brown's campaign on Monday announced the endorsement of the California Police Chiefs Association.

third gubernatorial debate
Who: Democratic candidate and state Attorney General Jerry Brown and Republican candidate and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman
When: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Dominican University, San Rafael
Watch: All nine NBC affiliates, including NBC Bay Area, KCRA Sacramento and KSBW Monterey/Salinas, will carry the debate live. C-SPAN also plans to air a tape-delayed broadcast of the debate. Go to www.cspan.org to find times and channel listings. A tape-delayed, Spanish-language version of the debate will air on Telemundo's 10 California television affiliates. Go to msnlatino.telemundo.com to find times and channel listings.
Listen: KQED Public Radio's statewide news program, "The California Report," will carry the debate. KQED is carried by 26 public radio stations that operate more than 70 broadcast transmitters in cities and towns from Yreka to San Diego.
Stream: Viewers can watch the debate live at www.nbcbayarea.com.